It was not difficult for him to express, with warmth, all the gratitude which he owed him, for the noble and delicate manner in which he had sought him out, and relieved him in his misfortune.
"As for the pecuniary assistance which you still offer me," continued he, "I accept it with great pleasure, because benefits conferred by you, can only do honour to him who receives them, and because I hope, one day, to repay this debt with interest, to your countrymen, if I can meet with any who have need of my assistance. As for your other proposal, Major, allow me not to be of your opinion, and to have a little more confidence in the generosity of my government, as well as in that of my countrymen. If I acted otherwise, would you not be authorised to have a bad opinion of the French character and then, I appeal to yourself, generous Englishman, should not I have lost my claims to your esteem? Believe me, Major, France can also boast of a great number of men, whose patriotism and humanity may rival those which are so frequently found in Great Britain. Like you we are formed to the sentiments, to the duties which compose the true love of our country and of liberty. In returning to France, I firmly believe that I return into the bosom of a great family. But if, contrary to my expectation, it were possible that I should find myself, one day, abandoned by my government, as we were by some men who have nothing French about them but their dress; if France, which so often and so nobly welcomes the unfortunate of other countries, should refuse pity and assistance to her own children, then, Major, should I be obliged to seek, elsewhere, a happier fate and a new country: there is no doubt but that I should chuse that of my generous benefactors in preference to every other."
Major Peddy answered Mr. Corréard only by tears. The transport of patriotism, in which the latter had naturally indulged himself, had found, as may be supposed, the heart of the noble Briton, in harmony with that of him whom he protected; he felt a visible satisfaction, and an emotion which he did not attempt to dissemble. The Major closely embraced Mr. Corréard, bidding him farewell for ever; it seemed that this worthy man forsesaw his approaching end.
He was in fact destined to sink beneath the fatigues of the journey which he was about to undertake.
This expedition was composed, besides the Major, who commanded in chief, and the Captain, who was the second in command, and charged with the astronomical observations, of a young Physician, who was third in command; of Mr. Kummer, the naturalist (a Saxon naturalized in France); of a Mulatto, who acted as interpreter; of thirty white soldiers, almost all workmen; of a hundred black soldiers, and of about ten camels, a hundred and fifty horses, as many asses, and a hundred oxen to carry burdens; so that there were above a hundred and thirty men, and four hundred animals. All the equipages were embarked on board six small vessels, which ascended the Rio Grande to the distance of about fifty leagues up the country. The respectable commander of this expedition could not resist the influence of the climate; he was attacked by a cruel disease, which terminated his existence a few days after his departure from the island of St. Louis. Such men ought to be imperishable[50].
The English physicians finding that the health of Mr. Corréard far from improving, seemed on the contrary, to decline more and more, persuaded him to return to France. These gentlemen gave him a certificate of such a nature, that the French governor could not object to his departure; he received his request perfectly well, and two days after his passage was secured; but we shall see in the sequel what was the motive of this favorable attention to his request.
On the 28th of November, in the morning, he embarked on board of a coasting vessel, which conveyed him first on board the Loire, which was bound for France: he was no sooner embarked, than the fever seized him, as it did almost every day; he was in a dreadful situation, weakened by five months' illness, consumed by a burning fever, added to the heat of the noon-day sun, which struck perpendicularly on his head; he thought he was going to die; he had, besides, painful vomitings, produced by the heat, and by an indisposition caused by the fish on which he had breakfasted before his departure. The little vessel crossed the bar; but it falling a dead calm, it could not proceed: they perceived this on board the Loire, and immediately dispatched a large boat to fetch the passengers out of the heat of the sun. While this boat was coming, Mr. Corréard fell asleep upon a coil of cables that were on the deck of the little vessel; but before he fell quite asleep, he heard some one say, "There's one who will never get to France." The boat came in less than a quarter of an hour; all those who were about my sick friend, embarked on board the boat, without any one's having the generosity to awaken him; they left him asleep, exposed to the beams of the sun; he passed five hours in this situation, after the departure of the boat. In his life he had never suffered so much, except during the thirteen days on the raft. When he asked, on awaking, what was become of the other gentlemen, he was told that they were gone, and that not one of them had shewed any intention of taking him with them. A breeze springing up, his vessel at last reached the Loire, and there on the deck, in the presence of the sailors, he reproached in the bitterest manner, those who had abandoned him, and even said offensive things to them. These sallies, the consequence of his exasperation, caused him to be looked upon as out of his mind, and nobody troubled himself about the severe truths which he had thus publicly uttered. The Loire sailed on the 1st of December, and arrived in France on the 27th of the same month.
When Mr. Corréard got to Rochefort, he waited on the Intendant of the Marine, who received him kindly, and authorised him to remain in the hospital as long as he should think necessary for his recovery. He was placed in the officers' ward, where he received the utmost attention from the medical gentlemen, who besides the aid of their art, shewed him the greatest regard and mitigated his misfortunes by kind consolations. Mr. Savigny saw every day his companion in misfortune, and he often repeated, "I am happy, I have at length met with men sensible to my misfortunes." After having passed thirty-three days in this fine hospital, he judged his health sufficiently recovered, and desired to leave it, in order to go to his family.
We shall here conclude the nautical part of our history; but as, since our return to France, particular circumstances and a series of events, which we were far from foreseeing, have, as it were prolonged the chain of our adventures, we think it will not be amiss to add another article, respecting what has happened to us since we have returned to our country.
Mr. Savigny thought, that after having undergone unexampled misfortunes, he had a right to describe all the sufferings to which he and his companions in misfortune had been exposed for thirteen days. Was it ever heard that the unhappy were forbidden to complain? Well, the fresh misfortunes which have befallen him, and which he is going to lay before our readers, have arisen, from his not having buried in silence these disastrous events.